Every spring, California Wildlife Center takes in orphaned baby squirrels, some just weeks old. Many people associate baby squirrels with those who live in trees. We also receive young California Ground Squirrels. We have admitted 39 so far this year. You can recognize them by the gray and brown fur on their backs with specks of lighter gray mixed in. These squirrels can be found living in farmlands, fields, chaparral, grasslands, cities and suburbs from central Washington state south to Baja, California. When these young squirrels arrive at CWC, they start off in our Orphan Care Unit.

The infant squirrels are initially fed a specialized formula using a syringe. When they graduate to eating solid food, they receive a variety of vegetables, fruits and nuts similar to their diet in the wild. At CWC their main diet includes lettuce, zucchini and monkey biscuits (a crunchy bite chock-full of protein and vitamins). They also receive sunflower seeds, nuts, occasionally pieces of corn on the cob and fruit.

Some of the predators of the California Ground Squirrel include raptors, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, gopher snakes and rattlesnakes. While the adult ground squirrels are resistant to rattlesnake venom, the young ones are not. Snakes will sometimes enter burrows at night while they are sleeping. The female squirrels are very protective of their young. The clever squirrels have figured out that if they chew on rattlesnake skin and lick their bodies and the bodies of their young, they will smell like snakes and make it difficult for the snakes to find them.

As their name implies, California Ground Squirrels live in burrows they dig in the ground that can range from 5 feet to 35 feet long. Sometimes these squirrels live alone, while other burrows house multiple squirrels and their babies. Our technicians provide the squirrels with make-shift burrows to sleep in using a tissue box or plastic igloo. Each group at CWC is made up of 4-6 squirrels. These groups remain together until they are old enough to return to the wild.